March 2011

In December of 2009, as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative, the New York City Council enacted Local Law 84, which requires owners of certain covered buildings to benchmark energy and water use (the scope and process of this requirement are described in this post). The inaugural benchmarking due date was intended to be May 1, 2011. However, on March 21, 2011 the City’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability announced that “for at least three months after May 1, 2011, no penalty will be assessed due to failure to comply with the benchmarking requirements of Local Law 84.” Thus, the deadline for compliance has effectively been extended until August 1, 2011 to allow owners of covered buildings additional time to get acquainted with the benchmarking procedure.

Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, enacted in February 2009, created a grant program applicable to new installations of certain energy property, including solar property (e.g., equipment used to generate electricity, or provide heating, cooling or illumination). The grant program was due to expire at the end of 2010. Fortunately, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, enacted in December 2010, extended the program through 2011. This post explores the intracies of Section 1603, as it applies to solar property.

The U.S. Green Building Council (“USGBC”) provides a rating system for new construction and major renovations of K-12 academic buildings, known as LEED for Schools. G.D. Rogers Garden Elementary School in Bradenton, Florida recently achieved LEED Silver certification under the LEED for Schools rating system.